JTI: Brussels Must be Held Accountable for Over-Regulation

Since May 20, tobacco products placed on the market in EU countries have had to comply with the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2). Japan Tobacco International (JTI) says that this is over-regulation and someone needs to be held accountable. Ben Townsend, JTI’s EU affairs vice president, said, “This is yet another example of Brussels-led over-regulation. TPD2 will not achieve its public health goals. It will, however, stifle consumer choice and have huge consequences for local economies, jeopardizing thousands of legitimate businesses and employees, from farmers to packaging manufacturers, and tobacco producers to retailers.”

“TPD2 is a hugely complex, burdensome and restrictive piece of legislation,” he continued. “To top it off, some EU countries were encouraged to go above and beyond TPD2 requirements by introducing even more outlandish measures such as plain packaging. As a result, consumers will come across different regulations for the same product in different countries, which makes a mockery of the European Commission’s original aim to improve the functioning of the internal market.”

“TPD2 is an attack on legitimate businesses and adult consumers’ freedom of choice. Even the president of the Commission recently said that they are wrong in over-regulating and that one of the reasons citizens are stepping away from the European project is that EU lawmakers are interfering in too many domains of their private lives. It’s time for Brussels bureaucrats to listen; they must be held accountable when the review of the directive is published in 2021,” concluded Townsend.